06-20: JDI has announced the mass production start of a FULL ACTIVE LCD display; Vertu announces that it has signed an agreement with TCL Communication; etc.
Chipsets
Qualcomm Global Vice President and Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures in China Shen Jin indicates that since 2015 the company has put their focus on AI, VR / AR, robotics, space technology. (Laoyaoba, Sohu, China Venture, C114)
MediaTek’s newly appointed co-CEO, Rick Tsai, indicates that the company plans to hire around 1000 new employees in 2017. MediaTek is pursuing new growth opportunities, since competition in the handset-chip industry has become fierce. He has also disclosed that the company is working with TSMC on manufacturing 7nm chipsets. (CN Beta, Laoyaoba, Android Headlines, Digitimes, press)
Touch Display
Japan Display Inc (JDI) has announced the mass production start of a FULL ACTIVE LCD display, which has a slim bezel design on all 4 display sides, and a display aspect ratio of 18:9 for smartphone devices. (JDI, GSM Arena, My Drivers, ZOL)
Truly International has entered into a cooperation agreement with Renshou County People’s Government, Renshou County Industries Investment and Sichuan Integrated Circuit and Information Safety Investment Fund to form a JV company for the Gen-5 TFT-LCD production. The total investment of the JV will be CNY12.5B. (Laoyaoba, HKEJ, 4-Traders)
New display technology Micro LED has attracted Apple, Sony and main display supply chain. However, in regards to see commercialized products using Micro LED in 2~3 years, a number of vendors experts are holding different views. (Digitimes, press, Laoyaoba, Digitimes, EE World, China Times)
According to TrendForce, HDR as a feature is now entering to the PC market following its adoption in the TV market in 2016. Demand growth of HDR-capable monitors for gaming is especially robust, and correspondingly Taiwan-based electronics brands are actively developing this market segment. The market for HDR-capable monitors is expected to expand rapidly once major vendors in IT industries have established a separate HDR standard specifically for their products. (Laoyaoba, TrendForce[cn], TrendForce)
Camera
Sony Mobile Eye is using stacked CIS, which can record 960p video. Sony’s IMX400 is 1/2.3, 19MP resolution, adopting 3-layer stacked – the upper layer is CIS, mid-layer is DRAM, and bottom is logic component. Upper layer CIS is using 1AL5Cu 90nm technology, middle DRAM is 1W3AL 30nm made, and bottom logic is 1AL6Cu 40nm technology. (TechNews, IEEE)
Memory
To benefit from the shortage of NOR Flash opportunity, Powerchip announced restarting NOR Flash production. Powerchip has not detailed the amount of production for NOR Flash, but stressing that once invested Hefei’s 12” foundry fab finishing production in 2H17, the company will gradually shift the Taiwan’s LCD drive IC to Mainland China, so that production can be shifted for NOR Flash. (Laoyaoba, Digitimes, UDN, UDN, TechNews)
A report stating that Toshiba is nearing a resolution to its effort to sell of its portion of a NAND memory-chip joint venture with Western Digital (WDC). Yet another report states that A group led by Bain Capital LP and Japanese investors Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ) has offered about CNY2.1T (USD19B) for Toshiba’s semiconductor division. (My Drivers, Barron’s, Bloomberg, Nikkan, Sohu, CN Beta)
Battery
University of California San Diego has developed a breakthrough in electrolyte chemistry that enables lithium batteries to run at temperatures as low as -60ºC with excellent performance — in comparison, today’s lithium-ion batteries stop working at -20ºC. (CN Beta, Science Daily, Deccan Chronicle)
According to Patently Mobile, Samsung has filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a wireless charging case that uses Millimeter Wave Technology. Users can use the case to wirelessly charge a Gear smartwatch, and presumably a number of other devices, while on the move. (Phone Arena, USPTO, SamMobile, Android Headlines, ZOL)
According to Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) official website, MediaTek’s subsidy RichTek’s MP charger has passed the validation. Supply chain expects RichTek looking for customers. (UDN, Laoyaoba, WPC)
Connectivity
China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) anticipates that by 2030, directly 5G will bring CNY630M, CNY2.9T and 8M to overall production value, economic additional value and employments, respectively; while indirectly 5G will bring CNY10.6T, CNY3.6T and 11.5M to production, economy and jobs, respectively. (C114, Laoyaoba, CAICT, report)
Smartphones
RFI reports that China brand OPPO exceeded Huawei and Xiaomi in 2016 becoming the top brand. 5 years ago, OPPO is still not a well-known smartphone brand, which mainly targets China tier-2, tier-3 cities, and using low price to attract customers to increase its market share. Now, OPPO is facing domestic brands and international brands challenge. (RFI, podcast, Laoyaoba)
Razer has entered into a partnership with telecommunications firm Three Group offering specific tariff plans, services as well as devices to electronic games players. Besides, they will also be focusing on “future mobile devices”. Razer has acquired Android gaming company Ouya in 2015, and more recently Nextbit, maker of the cloud-focused smartphone Robin. (GSM Arena, SCMP, Pocket Now, Sohu, Engadget)
Vertu, the world’s leading manufacturer of luxury mobile phones, announces that it has signed an agreement with TCL Communication worth USD40M, which will use technology from TCL for 30K handcrafted Vertu phones, to be produced at the Vertu facility in Church Crookham, Hampshire. This is the first agreement signed by Vertu since it was purchased by entrepreneur Hakan Uzan in mid-March 2017. (EE Trend, PR Asia, PR Newswire)
JPMorgan analyst Gokul Hariharan explains that Hon Hai Precision Industry (or Foxconn) has always tried to run a vertically integrated business model. First Hon Hai assembled desktops when they were still the main tech product; then it moved into game consoles, feature phones with Motorola and Nokia, and music players for Apple before moving onto smartphones. (TechNews, CNBC)
ZTE nubia M2 play is launched – 5.5” HD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 13MP + 5MP 84º wide-angle cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 7.0, 3000mAh battery. (Android Headlines, GSM Arena, Tweak Town)
Coolpad Defiant is launched with T-Mobile – 5” FWVGA display, Qualcomm quad-core processor, 5MP + 2MP cameras, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, Android 7.0, 2450mAh battery, USD100. (GSM Arena, T-Mobile, Tech Androids)
Wearables
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) continue to gain momentum in the mainstream tech media. According to IDC, dedicated AR and VR headsets collectively are expected to grow at a very strong pace from just under 10M units in 2016 to just shy of 100M units in 2021, with a 5-year CAGR of 57.7%. (CN Beta, IDC, press)
Nokia unveiled a new smart scale and digital blood pressure monitor as part of a “rebirth” of the company Nokia VP of Digital Health Cedric Hutchins indicated. As Nokia continues to transition away from a core business of selling phones, digital health will play a larger role in the Nokia portfolio in the future. Nokia acquired Withings in Apr 2016 for USD192M. (VentureBeat, Pocket-Lint, Sohu, Sina)
Internet of Things
A survey of more than 2,000 people conducted by Morning Consult shows that 19% of those who own existing Apple devices are ‘very interested’ in buying the HomePod. This compares to 13% interest across the population as a whole. (9to5Mac, Morning Consult, report, report, TechNews)
